Wet fly for Black Caddis...
I'm hoping Davy will chime in on this with a suggestion or two. I'm seeing tons of black caddis on the Housy the past week, and the trout are feeding on them. What wets would be good for this hatch? The naturals are about a size 18, give or take. Also looking for a good pupa pattern, I'm thinking a black body of Peacock Black Ice Dub or Prizm dubbing in black, and a silver tungsten bead, maybe even a few turns of Starling behind the bead. I know Aaron came back from the Big Horn a year or two ago with a pattern they use there, and it was some weird shade of green in a pupal pattern, but I'm pretty sure the pupa for this hatch on the Housy are black, just like the adult- I could be wrong though. I have done well in years past at the Farmington dropping a #16 black soft hackle (tied with Starling, a black fur dubbed body, ribbed with gold or silver wire ) behind a bigger, visible dry such as an Iso. Also curious to here how Davy would rig & present the fly. How about a Peacock & Starling wet ribbed with black Krystal Flash?
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
You are more or less on the rigth track here so far as how l would set up.
Let me ask you this question. Are the fish taking the naturals off the surface or not ? or are they visible taking the pupa, emergence stage.
The flies l would choose to use are these.
Black and peacock spider.
This is a peacock herl body and a black hen hackle.
Black and silver spider.
Body is first half silver flat second half black thread or turkey herl , hackle black hen.
Also called a hen blackie with a gray mallard wing. which is also a great fly.
Try these guys
Davy
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Thanks Davy.
Any thoughts on a pupa pattern? Davy, Loren, anyone? Open to suggestion here....
I've seen trout both eating off the surface, as well as hitting the pupa just subsurface.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Stewart's black spider works pretty good. Oliver Edwards has a great wet fly DVD out with precise tying intructions and good camera footage. I have all of his DVD's. He does excellent work with his productions. I do not know him but Bill Cairns has mentioned that he is a good fisherman. I do know he has a fantastic fly tying reputation. Perhaps Davy Wotton could add more regarding Oliver Edwards. I would advise anyone to pick up his DVD's--it has a little of everything in them with an emphasis on tying.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
like Davy, I feel soft hackle are hard to beat during dense caddis activity to which trout are reacting. I always thought chimarra pupae were green, the larva creamy tan but I could be wrong. I'd probably do dry dropper or upstream wets. I'd probably tie on some type of bloa, black hen, or starling collared wet, varying body colors and flash. It woudl also depend on the water type. Most chimarra I see ir tight to the banks in swarms and I rarely see trout interested.
It has been a long time since I fished to surface caddis oriented fish.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Yes, l know Oliver very well, in fact l developed and produced the masterclass series of dubings for the fly patterns he used in his Masterclass fly tying publication.
I have also fished with him many times in the past.
I will admit that l have a very different way of thought so far as fly patterns l would choose to use for fishing. I have never believed that a trout can count for one, and at the end of the day how far do you need to go to produce a fly that deceives a fish, realistic's often as not are no where near as effective as flies that are more so in the general representation of the food source, with a few exceptions.
In respect of soft hackles, l would say this, that there would be very few situation when fish are surface feeding that a soft hackle of the right pattern would not work.
Davy.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Davy,
You need to tell them about the day that he could not get the grayling on the bottom of the pool. You asked him why doesen't he put on all those nice flies but rather had a gnarly thing on the end of his gear. That was a great story!
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Yep, could tell you a few more also, but not for this board !!!
We got a 10lb 7 oz Brown Monday, it took a dynamite worm tan..
DW
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Davyfly,
Thanks for the reply. I go for the impressionistic patterns myself. I've tried tying some of Oliver's patterns from time-to-time to gain experience but not often. I'm a decent tyer but not that good. Plus, I don't particularly like or have the time to spend tying the super impressionistic flies for hours and hours only to loose them on the next fishing trip.
Mike
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Mike;
Yes, there is certainly a point when a fly becomes more or a artistic factor than a practical fly to fish with, about the closest l get so far as flies l fish with are sows and scuds and chironomids.
Coupls of days ago l wrote a article related to stoneflies. Stonefly nymphs have always been one of the bugs tyers like to be creative with so far as a more realistic looking fly.
Often as not a black chenille bodied fly with rubber legs can be the killer, not a fly that takes a hour or so to wind up.
I will have Aaron post two examples of my work here related to that. these flies take a considerable time to tie. I have others also in glass domes.
Davy.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...ly_by_DW_1.jpg
Very nice flies. I especially like the second one. You need to take a picture of the Isonychia nymph. That was very impressive as well as the woven nymphs that you had tied as well.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Hi,
I have two flies I use when black caddis are around. They are both wingless wets, and I find they are both very effective.
http://libstudio.com/FS&S/html/black_gnat.html
http://libstudio.com/FS&S/html/black_star_emerger.html
I will tie these in various sizes, usually the largest being a #14. The Black Gnat dressing calls for a red or claret head. If you think this is too bright for caddis, you can use black. I find it doesn't matter. The trout take it anyway.
Mark
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Mark,
Very nice flies. I liked the first one the most and it's very similar to the one that I used this fall. I used a similar fly for the first dropper on my team of wets. The interesting thing is that I did not do well with this fly on neither an upstream or down and slightly across presentation. This was the one that got the most action when animated with the figure 8 hand twist retrieve which is quite deadly as Davy and others on this site can attest to. I think that the trout are actually rising to the caddis that are "dapping" the surface and hence the reason for the added animation taking numerous trout.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Aaron,
You are quite right regarding retrieve and the caddis. The old Hand-twist does the job quite nicely.
Mark
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
For sure, overall the most effective way to fish soft hackles during a caddis hatch is a combination of the continuous recovery of the line and the use of the rod tip to further animate the fly or flies.
Long rods also greatly facilitate this technique.
Davy.
Re: Wet fly for Black Caddis...
Thanks, those are two deadly looking ties- I esp. like the Leisenring Black Gnat with the addition of the green wire, it just plain looks fishy.
